Berry box



July 2, 1935- c. AUGUSTIN AL BERRY BOX Filed Feb. 15, 1932 I N V EN TOR? (Mr/7107? rid/774.6 2 arm ATTORNEY.

Patented July 2,' 1935 BERRY Box Charles Augustin and Thomas P.

r St. Louis, Mo.

H ApplicationiFebruary 15, 1932, Serial No. 593,059

' 13 Claims. (o1. zzs-zsi .:.This invention relates to new and useful iinprovements in berry boxes orcontainers. These.

7 boxes are. generally made with sloping side walls;

the upper end of the boxes being open and larger than the bottom of'the boxes. They are used" as containers for variouscommodities. ;Where they' are used as berryboxes, they are formed with perforate sidewalls Sand bottoms: to. pen-.-

mit circulation of air therethrou'gh. The empty boxes are shipped from the factory to the; field or other location where'the'yare tov be'used. As the boxes even when. nested together occupy considerable shipping spacegit is desirable to ship them flat'in which case theyitake' up very little space and can be easilyhandled.

It l s 'one of the objects of the present inven: tion to provide a. berry box which can be shipped andstoredin flat condition and .whichcan be readilyassembled' 'at the field, for instance, by

. an inexperienced person and without the use. of

adhesiveor staples or other securing 'meansand machinery. Other objects of the invention are to provide a collapsible berry box consisting of two $613518? ble 'members the"outer'one comprising a band,

the ends ofvwhich are secured together to. form a downwardly tapering box open at top and bottom and 1 the inner member or liner comprising four side wallsor flaps arranged incrucb form shape and formed integral with the central piecewhich forms the bottom of the box. Certain of the side walls are provided with means whereby the inner and outer members arejlocked together when in assembled relation.

' Further objects of the invention are to provide a colla'psible box consisting of outer and inner members, the outer member comprising a band having its ends secured together and being scored to'form sloping side wallsJthe inner member beingin cruciform shape and scored and adapted tobe nested within the outer membenthe sloping side walls ofthe'outer member and the-sloping'edges of the flaps of the inner memberserving to hold-the latter in'position within said outer member, said inner member being provided with outwardly extending dove-tailed tongues and the 'correspor'iding side walls of the outer member being provided with suitable apertures for receiving said tongues whereby said members are locked together. i e

Stilliurther objects of the invention are-to provide a collapsible berry box comprising an outer'and an inner member arranged in nested position, the side walls of said members being provided, with coinciding tongues which canbe pressed or distorted. to occupy positions beyond theplanes of the respective side walls, thereby preventing the disassembly of said members.

With these and. other objects in'view, our invention consists in certain novel featuresof com 5,

struction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed; and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,- in which Figure 1 is a front elevational view of our im proved berry box.

Figure 2 is a vertical crosssection taken on line l -20f Figure 1.-. r I

Figure 3 is a reduced plan View of the outer. member before the ends thereof are secured tosether.. H [flit Figure} is a top plan view of the outer mem; be! with the ends secured together and ready for shipment. v. Figure 5 is a :top plan view of the inner member, Y

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawi l0 indicates an outer or box member and, theinneror lining member. The outer member In is in-the formof a strip and is scored along transverse lines, as indicated by l2, there 25 bydividing said member, into four panels M which when said member In is folded form the outer side walls of the box. As shown, these lines I! convergejsymmetrically, thereby forming the panels J4 of trapezoid shape. One end 30 sentedtongues, I8. The latter are cutbut are 40.

not pressed out and normally remain inthe same panel with the. respective panel I4.

Theinner section or lining member H is formed of cruciiormshape having a central panel l9 and outwardly projecting. panels. 20. These 5 projecting panels are-bendable upwardly along score linesZl to form the inner Walls of the box. 'I'he side edges 22 or the wall-panels 20 are disposed obliquely and convergeinwardly substantially on the same angle 1 as lines l2, .Conse- 9 quently panels 20 are formed trapezoid andare of substantially the same width at their outer ends'A as the outer ends B of panels M. The

depth of panels 20 is less than the depth of 5 panel l i,

, from said apertures. each arcuate opening llb is left open and'it is formed each with spaced apertures 25. These,

apertures are so spaced as to coincide with apertures 16 of the corresponding panels of outer member ID when said lining member H is placed in the latter. They are of larger diameter than apertures 16 in order to take care of any slight irregularities in said panels or the spacing-of the apertures. By means of these aligned apertures l6 and 25, air is admitted into the box through said apertured side walls. The other pair of opposed side walls is formed near their inner ends adjacent to score lines 2| with tongues 26. These tongues are formed dove-tailed, being considerably wider at their outer ends, as indicated at 26a, than at their junction with the bottom wall IS. The respective score lines 2! do not extend across the tongues 26 but terminate adjacent to the narrow end thereof so that when the respective panels 20 are bent upwardly, said tongues 26 project outwardly from'said bottom wall [9.

"Each aperture ll is forrned at each side with an elongated extension or slot l'la, the combined length of which is slightly greater than the width of the outer end 26a of the respective tongue so that the latter can be readily inserted therethrough. The lower end of each aperture is curved downwardly as indicated at I'll) and when the lining member II is properly positioned in the outer member H) the bottom wall [9 and tongues 26 are disposed in a horizontal plane below the slots Fla, and the neck or narrow portions of tongues 26 rest in the arcuate or restricted portions I'Ib as shown in Figures 1 and 2. This arrangement locks tongues 26 in position and prevents the removal thereof The lowermost portion or forms a ventilating opening through which air is admitted near the bottom wall l9 whereupon the air can then enter the interior of the box through apertures 24. The upper end of 'each aperture Il is curved upwardly as indicated at He and permits air to enter the box through the ventilating openings thus formed.

'One pair of panels 20 is formed near each upper or outer end with a semi-circular'tongue 21. These tongues are identical in shape and size with tongues Hi. When the inner or lining member H is placed in the outer member Ill, tongues 21 are in register with tongues l8. By pressing against tongues I8 of the outer member I!) said tongues l8 and tongues 21 are pressed inwardly as shown in Figure 2. This positions the ends of tongues l8 into the same plane with walls 20 or beyond said plane so that the inner member II is held against upward movement and is locked in position (see Fig. 2). Thusthetwo members l and II are locked together and cannot be accidentally displaced. Tongues 26 form additional support for the inner or lining member H and limits the downward movement thereof. Members l0 and II are shipped and stored in knock-down condition or flat, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, and, therefore, occupy very little space. They can be readily inserted together simply by opening the box member In and bending upwardly the panels 26 of member H and inserting the latter in member ID.

We claim:

1. A collapsible berry box of the class described comprising in combination an outer member formed of a single strip of sheet material scored transversely to provide four side wall panels,

and an inner member substantially cruciform in shape and having a central bottom panel and four side panels, said side panels being bendable upwardly whereby said inner member fits into said outer member when the latter is formed box-shape, one pair of the opposed panels of said outer member being formed near their lower ends with apertures, each having an arcuate lower end and a comparatively wide horizontally disposed upper portion, and a pair of tongues formed integral with the bottom wall of'said innermember, said tongues being formed dove-tailed and insertable through the wide portions of said apertures and having their neck portions resting in the lower restricted ends of said apertures, thereby locking said members together and limiting the downward movement of said inner member in said outer member.

2. A collapsible berry box of the class described comprising in combination an outer member formed of a single strip of sheet material scored transversely on converging lines to provide four trapezoidal wall panels, the ends of said strip being secured together to form downwardly tapering open-ended box, and a lining member of cruciform shape having four projecting trapezoidal panels and a central panel, said projecting panels being bendable upwardly to fit said inner member within said outer member, one pair of opposed walls of said outer member being formed near each lower end with an aperture having curved upper and lower ends and having curved upper and lower ends and having elongated centrally and horizontally disposed extensions, and a pair of dove-tailed tongues cut out from the corresponding wall panels of said inner member and formed integral with the bottom thereof, saidtongues being insertable through said central portions of said apertures and being adapted to have their narrow portions resting in the lower curved ends of said apertures to lock said inner 'member within said outer member, said curved upper and lower ends forming openings through which air is admitted into the box and near the bottom wall of said inner member, said bottom wall being perforated to permit air to pass upwardly into said box.

' 3. A collapsible berry box of the class described comprising in combination an outer member formed of a, single strip of sheet material scored transversely on converging lines to provide four trapezoidal wall panels, the ends of said strip being secured together to form downwardly tapering open-ended box, a lining member of cruciform shape having four projecting trapezoidal panels and a central panel, said projecting panels being bendable upwardly to form inner walls of the box and said central panel forming the bottom wall thereof, one pair of the opposed walls ofsaid outer member being provided near their upper ends with downwardly presented cutout tongues and the corresponding side wall panels of the inner member being provided with coinciding cut-out portions whereby said tongues can be pressed inwardly into the plane of said cut-out portions, thereby locking said box memhere together, there being formed in one pair of the opposed Walls of said outer member near the lower ends thereof apertures which are comparatively narrow and wider at their centers and have curved upper and lower ends, and dovetailed tongues cut out from the corresponding side wall panels of said inner member and formed integral with the bottom wall thereof, which tongues are insertable through said wide portions of said apertures and are adapted to have their neck portions resting in the lower restricted ends of said apertures to form supporting means for said inner member and locking said members together, said bottom member being formed with apertures and the apertures in the side wall panels of said outer member forming openings through which air is admitted into said box. 

